Hyundai Motorsport is gearing up to continue the positive start to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) season as the team tackles Rally Argentina, the fourth event of the 2016 WRC season, from 21 to 25 April.
Viewed as one of the most challenging events in the championship, Rally Argentina will be based in the lakeside resort of Villa Carlos Paz, 700 km northwest of Buenos Aires.
The New Generation i20 WRC has already demonstrated its competitiveness in each of the three rounds of the championship so far – in Monte Carlo, Sweden and Mexico – and the team will now target its first ever podium in Argentina.
Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo’s best results in Rally Argentina are both fifth place finishes, in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Neuville will drive the no.3 New Generation i20 WRC, with Dani Sordo in the no. 4 car – both crews competing under the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team banner.
Hayden Paddon has only driven in Argentina once before with Hyundai Motorsport and will line up in the no. 20 car for the Hyundai Mobis World Rally Team.
Hyundai Motorsport team principal Michel Nandan said: “We head to Argentina with a lot of momentum after our performance at the first three rallies of the year. We had two podiums and a fourth place finish in those three events, so it is our best start to a year of WRC competition. We want to keep this going!
“Rally Argentina is a tough event that is well known for how hard it is on the cars as well as for the drivers, but we are confident in our New Generation i20 WRC. We will approach it with all of the experience our team has gained in previous years at the event.”
Hyundai Motorsport will touch down in Argentina with considerable momentum after claiming its first back-to-back podium finishes in WRC with Neuville taking third in Monte-Carlo in January and Paddon finishing second in Sweden in February.
That was followed by Dani Sordo’s fourth place in Rally Mexico – a combination of results that is Hyundai Motorsport’s strongest start since it entered WRC in 2014.